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• Sylvia Colles
• 26 April 2019
• Herb Garden

Spring Fever & Herbs update

Still suffering from spring fever – Still starting seeds. Today it was time to plant the seeds that need to be started 4-6 weeks before the first expected frost-free date.  Nepatella (Calamintha nepeta) is a culinary herb.  Also known as calaminta, the plant's green leaves have a strong, distinctive flavor that's described as a cross between mint and oregano.  All the new seeds packed for 2019 except for the ones that need to be sown...Read More  

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• Sylvia
• 10 April 2019
• Herb Garden

Herb Garden Seeds Update

Sylvia has been busy getting a jump start on work in the Herb Garden.  Here is her latest update on this year's plans for plants she is starting from seed:   The lavender cotton (Santolina) is out of the frig and on the heat pad
   (see previous blog for more information on this plant).     The rosemary has germinated only sparsely, but they were old seeds.  Some seeds are viable for many years while others may be good for only ...Read More  

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• Sylvia Colles
• 27 March 2019
• Herb Garden

Herb Garden Addition

Spring is apparently here, at least the calendar says so. The seeds for lavender cotton, which, by the way, is neither lavender nor cotton, have gone into the refrigerator for a two-week cold treatment. Nature has created a variety of locks to put on seeds so that they will germinate only when conditions are right for success.  The two weeks in the frig opens the first lock.  After that the seeds go on a special heating pad at 70 degrees ...Read More  

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• Sylvia Colles
• 8 September 2018
• Herb Garden

“Cow slobber” – a plant?

Now I know why it’s called Cow Slobber.  When in blossom, spiderwort is a gorgeous plant, beautiful blue flowers with sunshine yellow pistols and stamens.  When it is dying and laying its stems on the ground, it becomes a slimy mess.  I’m not really familiar with cow slobber, but it’s probably looks just like the decaying gooey spiderwort mess I cleaned up.  Common names for herbs often refer to the plant’s appearance or to some ...Read More  

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• Joanne Tillotson
• 1 November 2017
• Herb Garden

Added To The Herb Garden...

New to the garden this year, lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) is not well known, but it is a beautiful addition to our herb garden. The botanical name means little magical one. Medieval alchemists believed the plant had magical powers and gathered the dew drops captured by the leaves to make potions they thought could cure a wide variety of ailments. Early Christians dedicated it to the Virgin Mary because they thought the scalloped edge of the ...Read More  

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• Joanne Tillotson
• 10 June 2017
• Herb Garden

Herb Garden Update - June 10, 2017

There were lots of photos taken of the plants in Woldumar's herb garden last Thursday (6/8/17). Visitors were especially drawn to the beautiful purple and yellow blossoms of the spiderwort. I did a little research to discover why the plant is called spiderwort. When the stem is cut, a viscous secretion is released which, after it dries, is threadlike and silky like a spiders web. Not a pretty name for such a pretty plant. The Latin name for this ...Read More  

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• Joanne Tillotson
• 2 June 2017
• Herb Garden

Herb Garden Update – May 31, 2017

Blooming today: comfrey, sage, foxglove, chives, columbine, woad, and spiderwort. Woad (Isatis tinctoria) is one of the dye plants in the garden. Not a very attractive plant, but the blue it gives as a dye has been prized over the ages. Think of the movie Brave Heart and blue-painted faces. Commercial cultivation stopped with the end of World War II, but home dyers still use the herb.
Planted new today: rue and ladys mantle, as well as some ma...Read More